Sectional concrete culvert.



H. K. SWENEY.

SECTIONAL CONCRETE CULVERT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1. 1915.

lfarentedSept 12, 1916.

awn who's H.K.SWEN;EY

HARRY K. swn'rrnr, or BILLnvGs, MONTANA.

SECTIQNAL CONCRETE OULVERT.

Application filedmecember 1, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY K. SWENEY, residing at Billings, in the county of Yellowstone and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sectional Concrete Culverts, of which the following is a specification.

The invention resides in improved culverts, and has for its object to provide a device of the character specifiechcomposed of reinforced cement or plastic material capable of hardening,and of sectional form, the sections and the reinforcements being so constructed and arranged that the sections may be rigidly connected together to prevent displacement with respect to each other for culverts of various lengths.

Another object of the invention is to provide sections for a concrete culvert which may be readily and easily assembled and when assembled will automatically lock together to prevent displacement of the sections.

With theabove and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel feature of construction, combination, formation and arrangement of parts, as will be'hereinafter more fully described and will be particularly pointed out in the'claims.

In the accompanying drawing has been shown the simple and preferred form ofithe invention, it being, however,understood that no limitation is made to the precise struc tural details therein eXhibited,-but-the right is hereby reserved to make any changes, alterations, or modifications to which recoursemay be had without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing theefliciency of the same.

In the acompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a culvert embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the upper end blocks of the culvert, and Fig. .4 is a perspective view of one of the lower end blocks of the culvert.

In the accompanying drawings like and corresponding parts are designated by the similar reference character throughout the several views.

In Fig. 1 of. the drawing I have illustrated a culvert comprising an upper section A and a lower section B, each of which comprises a plurality of intermediate blocks, having the blocks of the upper section indi- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

SeriaINo. 64,480.

cated bythe numeral 1, and the blocks of the lower section indicated by the numeral 2,

and the end blocks of the culvert being designated by the numerals 8 and 4: which indicate the upper and lower blocks respectively. Each of the-blocks of the lower section are provided within the upper walls thereof longitudinally extending channel ways 5, in which are adapted to rest the tongues 6, formed with the lower walls of pendicular tothe base of the blocks but the said end walls are inclined and the end walls of the lower sections are inclined in an opposite direction to the end walls of the blocks of the upper section. Each of the intermediate sections have openings extendingtherethrough of the same size and when the blocks are placed in position they form a continuous opening through the culvert of the same size and being substantiallyeliptical in cross section. Each of the blocks are also provided withreinforcing rods 7 and 8 which are in the upper and lower sections respectively, and the reinforcing rods are arranged in pairs within the intermediate blocks and in spaced relation to each other.

The terminals of the rods 7, within the blocks of the upper section, project beyond the lower face of the blocks and terminate in resilient hooks. 9. These hooks 9 project from the lower faces of the blocks in a line with the tongues 6 and portions of the tongues 6 are cut away, as at 10, sothat the tongues will not interfere with the hooks and the lower ends of the hooks terminate in a plane above the lower faces of the tongues. These hooks are arranged substantially transverse to the block and extend in the same direction with each other. The reinforcing rods 8 are also arranged within the blocks of the lower section in pairs and in spaced relation and their extremities terminate in eyelets 11, and ends of these ey lets terminate flush with the upperfaces of the blocks. The eyelets 11 extend in a longitudinal direction within the channel ways 5 and when the blocks of the upper section are placed in position their weight will force the spring hooks 9 to automatically engage the eyelets and thereby lock the blocks of the upper and lower sections together. These reinforcing rods thereby not only reinforce the blocks of the culvert but also when locked together will tie the upper and lower sections together, thereby preventing. any longitudinal movement of the blocks or sections.

By forming the blocks of substantially a parallelepiped configuration and having the end walls of the upper section inclined in an opposite direction from the end walls of the blocks of the lower section, the blocks and I the outer walls of the end blocks are perpendicular with respect to the base of the blocks and are provided with the ordinary flanges or wheel guards 12.

From the foregoing it is obvious that by providing a sectional culvert of the character described that the blocks or sections may be easily and readily connected together and that av culvert of any desired length may be formed. When the sections of the blocks of the culvert are connected togetherthey will be locked so as to prevent any displacement due to the great strains that culverts are subject to and that the blocks of the sections are so locked together that no slight displacement is permitted whereby the culvert is subjected to leakage.

Having fully described my invention and what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A culvert comprising an upper and lower section, said sections each consisting of a plurality of blocks each having substantially a parallelepiped configuration, the end walls of the blocks of the lower section being inclined in opposite direction to the end walls of the blocks of the upper section, the blocks of the lower section having grooves formed therein, tongues depending from the blocks of the upper section and adapted to rest within the said grooves, reinforcing rods arranged within each of said blocks, eyelets formed at the extremities of the reinforcing rods arranged within the blocks of the lower section, spring hooks formed at the extremities of the reinforcing rods of the blocks of the upper section and the said hooks being adapted to engage said eyelets for locking the sections together.

2. A culvert comprising an upper and lower section, a plurality of blocks forming each section, each block being substantially semicircular in cross section, the blocks being similar, each block having its opposite faces parallel and inclined to the plane of the base, whereby when the blocks are laid, the under cut face of each will partially overlie and rest upon the opposite face of the succeeding block, interlocking mechanism for connecting the blocks and the end walls of the blocks of the upper section being inclined in an opposite direction of the end walls of the blocks of the lower section.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY K. SlVENEY. Witnesses C. R. INGLE, C. W. DEMEL.

Copies oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

